Paper-holding attachment for typewriters



Oct. 27, 1942. HARLAM 2,299,981

PAPERHOIJDING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed July 25, 1941 INVENTOR 9523 Z0015 GT Fan am A TT ORNE Y Patented Oct. 27, 1942 1 OFFICE PAPER-HOLDING ATTACHMENT F OR TYPEWRITERS Louis G. Harlam, Stockton, Calif.Application July 25, 1941, Serial No. 404,005 4 Claims. (Cl. 120-30)This invention relates to a copyholding attachment for typewriters, andincludes also a holding means to receive and contain the paper which isbeing typed upon and also a means for supporting paper to be used formaking as the typing is being done.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a copy holding devicewhich can be conveniently attached to and writer and will not onlysupport the matter which is being copied by the typist, but will also beconstructed and arranged to receive and house the paper as it is typedupon, also house the copy memoranda upon detached from a type- 1 sheetcompletely out of the way or sight; to provide improved means forsupporting in a more convenient position the matter to be copied; toprovide for supporting both the copy and the typed matter in a betterposition for being inspected by the typist as the work proceedsrtoprovide the attachment with means for supporting and progressivelyadvancing an additional strip of paper on which any desired memorandamay be written as the Work of typing the copy proceeds; to provide adevice of the above stated kind which can be conveniently attached toand detached from different makes of typewriters; and to otherwiseimprove upon and simplify the construction of copy-holding devices ofthe kind to which the invention pertains.

The invention also includes a new article of manufacture adapted to beseparately made and sold and capable of being manually attached-to anddetached from various makes of typewriters now on the market, to carrythe sheets used by typists.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafterappear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates what is atpresent deemed to be a preferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. l is a fragmental front elevation of the attachment separatelyshown, a portion of the view being sectioned on the plane indicated bythe line ll on Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a vertical miclsection of the attachment shown in its mountedposition, fragments of the upper portion of the typewriter beingincluded in the view in order to show how the device is mounted.

Fig. 3 is a transverse Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the principal parts of theattachment for the typewriter 9 are the twin end bearing members l0, oneof section on line 3-3 of 1, the supplementary typewriter paper guiderollers l l and I2 which have their bearings in the upper portions ofthe bearing members I and which are respectively provided with gears l3and [4 at each end which mesh with each other, the roller [2 having anoperating handle l5 projecting outwardly from each of the bearingmembers It]; the supply roller 2| from which is fed a sheet or roll 22for the typist to use to make memoranda upon as the work proceeds, thebacking plate 23 across the face of which said memoranda sheet is fed,and the take-up roller 24 upon which said memoranda sheet is wound, saidrollers 2| and 24 being both removable and respectively provided at eachside of the structur with operating handles 25 and 26; and the housingcylinder 3| removably supported by shaft portions formed as socketmembers 32. The parts so far described pertain to the various rotatablepart-s witlrwhich the attachment is furnished and to the means forsupporting these parts. The attachment also includes a rear cross pieceor metal strap 4| which is secured by screws or otherwise to the backside of each of the twin bearing members l0 and is furnished withangular hanger members 43, the terminal arms 44 of which may be hookedbehind the conventional typewriter paper guide plate 45.

As a feed guide for the sheet 46 from which the typist copies, and as ameans to further stabilize the structure of the frame portion of thedevice, which ismanually attachable to and detachable from a typewriter,a pair of angle irons 41 and 48 are secured by screws or otherwise tothe top of the end pieces In. Said angle iron members are thusmaintained in an adjacent, parallel spaced apart relation to each other.The front angle iron member 41 has an upwardly extending guide flange 50having on it a scale 50s,

which is shown in the righthand portion of Fig; 5:,

and the other angle member 48 has an upwardly directed guide flange 5|furnished along its upper edge with an outwardly deflected lip 52.Between these flanges'the aforesaid sheet 46 is fed downwardly over thefront face of an inclined guide plate 53 to the housing cylinder 3|already mentioned.

Describing in detail the housing cylinder 3|, said cylinder consists ofa tubular structure comprising two spiral plates 55 and 56 which arecoiled within each other in a noncontacting radially spaced apartrelation to each other, thus maintaining two spiral chambers within saidtubular structure, one of said chambers opening upwardly at the backside of the spiral to receive copy'sheet' 46', whilethe other of said,

chambers opens downwardly at the front side of the spiral to receive thetyped portion 51a. of each sheet as it is delivered from the typewriterroller 58, supported in the usual manner on the typewriter carriage.Each of said plates 55 and 55 forms a plurality of coils on all sides ofthe axis of the spiral structure, hence the coiled portion of each ofthe sheets 46 and 5111 which is contained within said coiled structureis kept out of contact with itself even when it is made up of aplurality of coils. This insures non-smut of typing thereon.

As an aid to mounting and properly supporting the aforesaid spiralstructure, the two spiral sheets or plates have a common closure or head59 at each end and also have a central square shaft 6i and channelshaped clamping clips 62 which cooperate with said shaft to griptogether the inner edge portion of the spirals, as shown in Fig, 1. Byadding the central shaft 6! to the other supporting means for the twospiral plates, thinner, less expensive sheet material may be used toform the spiral portion of the structure without danger of the sheetbeing sprung out of shape.

In order properly to space apart the spirals at each end of said spiralstructure, spiral spacing strips 53 are inserted between the coils andare adhered or otherwise secured in their proper positions.

concentrically through the housing cylinder 3| extends a square shaft Blhaving end portions which extend into the rotatably adjustable members32 already mentioned. Said socket members have flanges 68 around theirinner ends and against each of these flanges presses a spiral spring Blwhich normally maintains the socket members pressed inwardly. Each ofsaidsocket members 32 has its outer portion fitted rotatably within abearing aperture provided for it in the lower part of the bearing memberIt! at its side of the device, a centrally apertured disk 32a having asomewhat greater diameter than the outer end of said socket member,being secured to said member by means of a screw 33 which is tappedcentrally into said socket member. In order to detach the square shaftBI, the operator will apply traction to the heads of the screws 53 towithdraw said socket members against the opposition of the springs 61.Said cylinder may be either transparent or opaque.

Each sheet 51 to be typed upon is inserted between the sheet or plate 53and the typewriter guide plate 55 and passes downwardly to thetypewriter roller 58.

When the housing member 3| is put into place, the socket members 32,rotatable for adjustment purposes and having square sockets to receivethe ends of the square shaft 6|, are turned to adjust said shaft to theproper rotatable position, shown in Fig. 2, wherein said shaft isfrictionally held by the springs 61.

In order to provide an operating connection between the conventionaltypewriter paper feed roller 58 and the pair of copy feeding rollers Hand i2 already mentioned, the roller 12 is provided with a mountingshaft H which projects through and beyond its knob I5, and theprojecting portion of this shaft has secured to it a sprocket wheel 12over which passes a chain 13 which in turn passes over a lower sprocketwheel 14 secured to a projecting portion of the shaft 55 of theaforementioned roller 58. The conventional operating knob or disk 11 ofsaid roller 58 is secured to the terminal part of said projectingportion of said shaft "I6. The front roller I l which cooperates withthe driving roller I2, is furnished with a mounting shaft 15 having aprojecting end portion which carries the already mentioned gear M of theroller.

By preference and as shown the spiral space which received the typedupon paper, together with carbon copies, is made wider than the spiralspace 86 which holds the copy sheet 46.

Preparatory to operating the device, the hooked attaching members 43will be placed around the upper portion of the typewriter paper guideplate 45 and the clamping screws 8! carried by said members will then bescrewed down as shown in Fig. 2 to retain the attachment securely in itsoperative position. After this has been done, the backing plate 23 isswung forwardly, for example, to the position indicated by dotted linesin Fig. 2, thus affording access to the lower roller 24 which is thenremoved, and after the memoranda sheet has been wound upon said roller24, or else slipped thereover in an already rolled up form, said rolleris replaced, and the outer end portion of the memoranda strip is fedunder the lower edge of the backing strip and thence upwardly acrosssaid strip and is then attached to the upper roller 2|, whereupon thebacking strip may be swung back to rest in the inclined position shownin dotted lines in Fig. 2.

At this time (or previously if .desired) a sheet 46 of matter to becopied from will be fed down between the rollers II and I2 at the top ofthe attachment, until only the first line or two at the top of saidsheet remains in sight to be read above the upper edge of the frontflange 50 shown in the upper portion of Fig. 2. Then the paper sheet 51to be typed upon is fed into the back part of the attachment just infront of the conventional typewriter paper guide plate 45, the loweredge portion of said sheet being brought up around the typewriter roller58 into position for beginning typing thereon. As the typists workproceeds, the turning of the roller 58 each time the typewriter carriageis shifted to type a new line will, through the sprocket wheels andsprocket chain which have been described, cause the rollers H and [2 tofeed the typists copy matter upwardly to bring new lines into view tocopy from.

It is to be understood that the socket members shown in the right handportion of Fig. l for receiving the square shaft ends are duplicated atthe opposite end of the structure; and, in view of the description ofthese parts which has already been given, the releasing of the shaftsfrom the sockets preparatory to removing the rollers 21 and 24 and thecylindrical housing 3| will be understood. Ordinarily it will not benecessary to remove said cylindrical housing during the usual course ofoperating the device, for the sheets of paper contained therein can, asa rule, be pulled out therefrom by taking hold of their projecting edgeportions. The removal of said cylinder may however become necessary ifrepairs are needed.

The memoranda sheet rollers 2| and 24 are respectively provided withdiametrical slots 2ls and 24s to receive and aid in attaching the endportions of the memoranda sheet 22.

The swingable backing strip 23 carries trunnions 90 at its lower cornerswhich enter sockets 9! in the bearing members I0, said socketscontaining centering springs 92 which allow the plate to be shiftedsufficiently for removal.

Stop lugs 93 project from the upper corners of the plate 23 to rest uponadjacent parts of the main bearing members I0.

I claim:

1. In a device of the kind described, a tubular structure comprising twospiral plates of sheet material coiled within each other, a framecomprising end members whereby said plates are supported innon-contacting radially spaced relations to each other, thus maintainingtwo spiral chambers within said tubular structure, and

means to detachably support said frame upon the upper part of atypewriter with one of said spiral chambers opening upwardly in aposition to have fed into it a sheet of paper containing copy for thetypist and with the other of said chambers opening downwardly in aposition to have fed into it the typed sheets.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 and, means for manually detaching andreplacing said tubular structure.

3. In a device of the kind described, a tubular structure comprising twospiral plates of sheet material coiled. within each other, a framecomprising end members whereby said plates are supported innon-contacting radially spaced relations to each other, thus maintainingtwo spiral chambers within said tubular structure, and means todetachably support said frame upon the upper part of a typewriter, oneof said spiral chambers having an intake opening at the rear side ofsaid structure which is directed upwardly, the other of said spiralchambers having an intake opening at the front side of said spiralstructure which is directed downwardly, means for feeding the papertyped upon upwardly from the front side of the typewriter roller intosaid downwardly directed opening, and means to feed a copy sheet fortyping upwardly out of said spiral chamber from said upwardly directedopening.

4. The subject matter of claim 3 and, a horizontally disposed indicatorstrip mounted upon the frame in a cooperative relation to said feedingmeans.

LOUIS G. HARLAM.

